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Volume 16, Number 33 | January 9 - 15, 2004

Inside

Editorial
A good case for supporting Pier 40 lawsuit
What’s to be made of waterfront activist Arthur Schwartz’s filing a lawsuit, essentially on his own, against the Hudson River Park Trust over the failed Pier 40 redevelopment process?
There seems to be a leeriness being expressed by community members and even politicians at the Greenwich Village Democratic district leader’s action.

The Penney Post
In defense of Tom ‘Thumb’ Ridge
By Andrei Codrescu
Before it was decided to fingerprint everybody who isn’t fortunate enough to own the right passport, it was suggested that the Border Authority just keep the whole finger. That way people wouldn’t stay very long and would be sure to return before their visas expired. This proposal was shut down because it only inconvenienced good people, who are fond of their fingers. Bad people would just give up a finger to live in our Wal-Mart paradise and really bad people like suicide bombers would gladly surrender a small body part beforehand.

Talking Point
Considering on different memories at the W.T.C.
By Jeff Galloway
Let us begin by acknowledging that memory belongs primarily to the individual: the unique and personal remembrance of someone deeply loved, of shared lives, of unspeakable grief and longing. At the same time, we must acknowledge the extent to which the evolving process of memory also belongs to families and neighborhoods, communities and cities, even entire nations.

Letters to the editor

Downtown Local

Gore will headline fear conference

Police Blotter

Food

Urbane Asian street fare downtown
By Frank Angelino
With the vigor that only a talented chef can bring, Lotus, in the meatpacking district, has reinvented itself. Within the past six months, Lotus has gone from a late night spot to a restaurant with interesting fare as delivered by Chef Tyson Ophaso.

Picture Story

Downtown shots
Laura Nigals, who will be turning 8 on Saturday, left, practiced her shot before her birthday.

Children

The fear of passing on fear to my son
By Jane Flanagan
During half time at a basketball game last weekend I was startled at the site of my five-year-old son gingerly climbing the bleachers. Until then, he always let loose between halves running up and down them.

Children's Activities

Downtown Express photo by Ramin Talaie

Michael Arad, the lead designer of the World Trade Center memorial, presented his plan Wednesday.

Reflecting on the W.T.C. memorial
By Josh Rogers
The designers and jurors got to speak on the record.
Michael Arad, the previously unknown 34-year-old city architect picked to design the $350-million memorial at the World Trade Center site, spoke directly to the public for the first time on Wednesday about his Reflecting Absence design.

Seaport in flux, worrying neighbors
By Elizabeth O’Brien
As an increasing number of stores jump ship, operators of the South Street Seaport mall at Pier 17 have considered bringing in Home Depot or even reconfiguring the property once the Fulton Fish Market leaves the neighborhood.

Dean leading in Downtown politicos’ support
By Lincoln Anderson
With the Democratic presidential contests set to start on Monday, Downtown supporters of Howard Dean gathered last Sunday night in the West Village at a meeting of Gay and Lesbian Independent Democrats to strategize on how to insure their front-running candidate becomes the eventual nominee.

One juror gave birth while nurturing a design
By Josh Rogers
She was pregnant in the spring when she and her fellow jurors attended combative public meetings about the World Trade Center memorial. She gave birth in June, and then worked with her colleagues considering 5,201 ideas before selecting the revised plan by Michael Arad and Peter Walker that was unveiled to the public on Wednesday.

Trust serving up tennis courts near Spring St.
By Albert Amateau
Three permanent tennis courts will be built in Hudson River Park just south of Pier 40, if all goes according to a Hudson River Park Trust proposal that won the approval on Jan. 5 of the Community Board 2 Waterfront Committee.

Ringing the monkey year
By Sascha Brodsky
Moy Vat set a tiny drum thumping on Mott St. the other day as he tried to lure buyers to his souvenir stand.
Vat is among the thousands of Chinatown businesspeople who are looking to the upcoming Lunar New Year’s celebrations to help make up for a faltering economy.

School leader says Downtown K-8 is coming
By Elizabeth O’Brien
Downtown’s crowded classrooms will get some relief in a few years, when a new public school is built in the area, according to a high-ranking Department of Education official.

Popular Bazzini manager killed in crash
By Albert Amateau
The death in a brutal hit-and-run accident on Jan. 10 of Peter Hornbeck, 26, bakery manager of Bazzini gourmet outlet in Tribeca, left fellow employees and neighbors deeply saddened this week.

Lives of the stars reenacted at Fez
By Jerry Tallmer
It was surely the first time in his life that Charles Busch ever got a laugh just by saying: “Chapter 43.”
Actually it went this way:
Brilliant playwright/screenwriter/actor/dragman Busch, in black duds and a Russianesque, Nehru-esque black cap, advances to the mike, displays the book from which he is about to read a few pages, states its title and author: “‘Ginger: My Story,’ by Ginger Rogers.” Pause, pause, pause. “Chapter 43.”

Koch on film
By Ed Koch
“Millennium Mambo” (-) This film received some rave reviews. New York Post reviewer, V.A. Musetto, wrote, “A stunner from Taiwanese filmmaker Hou-Hsiao-hsien…beautifully filmed, wonderfully acted…This is THE movie to see for the new year.” “Cold Mountain” (+) Surely worth seeing, but not the blockbuster it is hyped to be. The acting of Nicole Kidman and Jude Law is ordinary, but they are so extraordinarily beautiful and handsome that their ordinary performances will be overlooked by most, including me.
“Monster” (-) The acting of Charlize Theron in this film is described by almost every critic as a tour de force, and it is. So why I am giving this superbly acted movie a negative rating?

Rug designer brings Central Park to Tribeca
By Aileen Torres
Imagine if Central Park were to come into your living room. Not in the form of a painting, but as a rug. That is exactly what Rama Chorpash, an industrial designer living in the Village has done.